Crash Leaves 1 Dead, 2 Injured In Teaneck, N.J.

TEANECK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A woman was killed and two others were injured Thursday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash in Teaneck, New Jersey.

As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, the crash happened at 3:40 p.m. on busy Degraw Avenue at Queen Anne Road, officials said.

Police said a man and woman were headed west on Degraw Avenue when their car was struck by a vehicle traveling south on Queen Anne Road.

The cars involved in the accident both had extensive front-end damage. The impact sent debris flying all over Degraw Avenue and Pleasant Place.

The man and woman in the first vehicle were left with serious injuries and were taken to an area hospital, police said.

The woman in the second vehicle – identified as Belinda Mercado Laughlin, 45 – was killed in the accident. Thanksgiving will never be the same now for her aunt, Jeanette Caraballo.

"My niece was a hard worker. She was a nurse," Caraballo said.

Caraballo said her niece was headed to her home in Teaneck to celebrate Thanksgiving. She was just one block away when the accident happened.

Laughlin worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Holy Name Medical Center.

"She was going to stay with me, have dinner, and then go and deliver babies because that's what she did," Caraballo said. "She was full of life; full of joy."

Police spent hours Thursday evening trying to reconstruct the scene. The cars were eventually towed away.

Caraballo said her niece's sudden death was a reminder that tomorrow is never promised.

"She used to bring life in, and now her life is gone," she said.

It did not appear there was any criminality involved in the crash, police said.

Degraw Avenue was closed at the scene after the accident.